Sarah Johnson, the Director of Weill Music Institute, Starts Her Sundays With a Run

Sarah Johnson, the director of Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, and her boyfriend, Danyon Davis, on a walk through Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Emon Hassan for The New York Times

July 17, 2014

Sunday Routine

By SOL HURWITZ

Sarah Johnson is the director of Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall’s education and community engagement enterprise, which has a staff of 25, a budget of $10 million and a reach of 450,000 people in New York and around the world. Among other duties, she oversees the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, for musicians ages 16 to 19 who come to Purchase, N.Y., from all over the country for a two-week training residency. The ensemble’s eight-city 2014 tour opens at the Performing Arts Center of Purchase College on July 20 and at Carnegie Hall on July 22. Ms. Johnson, 38, lives in a Park Slope brownstone with her cat, Caterina, and spends Sundays catching up with her boyfriend, Danyon Davis, 39, an actor, director and teacher, who lives nearby.

7 MILES IN THE PARK I usually get up between 7 and 8. I’ve been a runner since high school, and I still like to start my day running because it helps me feel centered and calm. I aim for seven miles in Prospect Park, which is just a couple of blocks from my apartment. In addition to the exercise, running for me is about having contact with the natural world. I grew up in the woods in northwestern Illinois, and one thing I love about Prospect Park is that parts of it feel like a real forest. Many other parks give you a sense that you’re in the middle of the city. If I decide not to run, Danyon and I go for a long walk in the park, usually for about an hour and a half.

COFFEE, IN AND OUT Danyon gets up very early and has already made coffee by the time I’m up. We like La Colombe coffee made in a French press. Sometimes I have a cup before my run, and I always have some afterward. I also have a piece of my favorite toast, a yummy whole wheat bread with golden raisins and walnuts that we buy on Saturday at the Grand Army Plaza farmers’ market. If the French press runs out, we go down the block to Café Regular for another cup, often a skim latte for me. Café Regular has the neighborhood feeling I was looking for when I moved from Manhattan to Park Slope last fall.

Ms. Johnson treating herself to iced coffee at Café Regular du Nord near her home in Park Slope.

Emon Hassan for The New York Times

QUALITY CAT TIME I spend late morning catching up with Danyon, playing with Caterina, my hilarious and elegant cat, reading a book (currently “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz) and generally getting organized for the day. Sometimes we do the Sunday Times crossword or listen to the news on NPR. Midday Sunday is one of the few reliable moments of downtime in my weekly schedule, so it’s often a lazy time.

EAT VEGGIES AND WORK Later, Danyon and I may walk over to ‘sNice, where I can get an arugula salad and he can get a veggie sandwich, and we can sit outside. The remainder of the day depends on whether or not I’m working. I’m often involved in weekend events. These are teacher workshops, student rehearsals, neighborhood concerts for adults and kids, even performances in juvenile detention centers. In July I’ve been busy with rehearsals of the National Youth Orchestra of the U.S.A. at Purchase College. It can be tiring working on Sundays after a full week in the office. But as a musician myself, I always find it inspiring to watch people — no matter their level of experience — discover ways to learn about themselves through music.

INSPIRED BY FRESH PRODUCE I love cooking, and I often host a low-key dinner party for friends and colleagues. I’m a vegetarian, and summer is my favorite time to cook because it brings such delicious and varied produce as inspiration for those meals. On our trip to the farmers’ market I stock up on veggies — they have all kinds of greens from a fabulous organic farm — and I spend part of the afternoon in the kitchen.

Ms. Johnson preparing a vegetarian dinner for eight at her home.

Emon Hassan for The New York Times

A HALF-DOZEN FOR DINNER The dinner party starts on the early side with wine around 6 (acknowledging there’s work the next day). I usually have about six people and serve a big, homemade vegetarian meal with more wine and wide-ranging conversation. Recently I made garlicky broccoli rabe crostini, asparagus risotto with lemon, a salad with greens, beets and avocado, and a rhubarb pie.

BEFORE MIDNIGHT People usually leave around 10. Then I clean up and turn my attention to what Monday will bring. I’m in bed pretty early, between 10 and 11, in anticipation of my run in the park and the start of a whole new week.